6 minutes in hell
by laurel alex
Summary: Fang-now 19 yrs old believes tht he needs to take part in what has been happening around him all his life,war.He expected to be thaught how to survive in the war.The last thing he expected was to fall in love with a solider, Max. FAX! FAX! FAX! Fangs POV
1. Chapter 1

6 minutes in hell

_Prologue_

_Her blood-stained face all of a sudden became too relaxed as her eyes fluttered close. Her jaw sagged to the side a little and she let out a final last breath._

_"Max . . ." I whispered._

_Tears started to streak down my cheeks as I held her close to my chest._

_If she wasn't going to make it out of this, then neither would I. One short month was all it took – it was all it took for one girl to steal my heart from me and for me to steal hers. That's all it took. _

_And one pull of a trigger had taken everything away. . ._

* * *

It was way past midnight as I packed my bags to leave. Everyone else was fast asleep in the house. Iggy, Gazzy, Jeb - my father. All of them sound asleep.

Except me of coarse.

I had to get ready for what the next day would be hold for me.

I wasn't nervous.

I wasn't scared.

I was truely relaxed.

_This is what I should have done a year ago when I turned 18_, I thought to myself. _This is how it should have been, me, a solider, fighting for everyone._

Fighting for everyone but myself, that is.

A strike of lightening hit outside and caused me to drop my packing bag in my hands. Sighing, I bent down to pick it up.

My bedroom door cracked open a little, and 8 year old Gazzy peeped his head through the side. "Fang . . ."

I looked up at him through my thick fringe of dark brown hair. "What's up, Gaz? Storm keep you awake?"

He shook his head, then thought for a moment, "Well, yeah, but that's not it."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Then whats wrong, buddy?"

He took in a shuddering breath, "You can't leave us, Fang. Please don't go." His bottom lip started to quiver.

Oh, jeez.

"Come 'ere," I spread my arms out and Gazzy ran into them, burrying his head into my chest as he started crying. I stroked his mop of blonde hair, "It's ok, Gaz. I promise."

"Everything's gonna be ok."

**Yeah, it's short, I know, but still. Please R&R. The other book to this is called "6 minutes in heaven" its the same as this only Max's POV. Please R&R them both! THanks! **


	2. Chapter 2

6 minutes in hell 2

**Hey! So I stayed up last night writing this! I really hope that you like it! And please check out Max'sPOV in "6 minutes in heaven" R&R them both please!**

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"I love you, son." Jeb took me into a hug. "Write us as much as you can."

I nodded solemnly at him, "Will do."

Jeb gave me one last sad smile then stepped aside of Iggy to come over to my side. He sighed casually, his hands behind his back, "I might be blind, man," he said, his sightless eyes wandering across no where, "But I can still see what this all is doing to you," he whispered so low only I could hear.

We stood like that silently for a second, then Iggy turned around and gave me a half hug, then wrapped both of his arms around me tighter and held me tightly. "Be safe, dude."

He tore away from me and Gaz stepped up, his eyes swimming with tears. He stared at me then ran into me and jumped into my arms, snaking his little arms around my neck, his tears finally spilling over his cheeks. I held him tightly against me, "I . . . I should so be . . . be there with you. All - all those ex - ex - explosives!" Gazzy said between his blubbering.

"It's ok, buddy," I said to him in a hushed voice, rubbing his back. "Maybe when you're old enough."

Gazzy nodded as I put him back down on the ground, him trying to wipe away his tears. "I love you," he said in a small child's voice.

He almost made me want to cry at how broken his voice sounded.

I bent to down to his level and looked him straight in the eyes. "Hey, listen to me. Fallow Jebs rules, don't explode too many things, and be good got it?"

He nodded his head up and down quickly.

I smiled then said, "And I love you too, kiddo."

He ran back over to me and gave me one last hug.

It was gonna have to last me a while.

Then the bus came to take me and the rest of the soliders away from their friends and family. As I got into my seat I looked out the window and waved at my family as the bus drove me away from them.

The last thing I saw was Iggy holding Gazzy, who was crying harder than ever before.

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**So tell me, how did you like it? Please if you haven't already read "6 minutes in heaven" please do so now! Thank you for your reviews and please R&R! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

6 minutes in hell 3

Barren dry land flashed past me as I stared purposelessly out the bus window. Every second this bus was taking me farther and farther into my deathly future and farther away from my family.

What was I here for? Nobility? Arrogance? Bravery?

I couldn't answer that question to even myself as I thought it over and over in my head as I neared what could be the beginning of something great – or my death.

I didn't know the answer.

If someone had come up to me at that moment and asked me that I'd just blank out.

The bus made another stop and a boy about my age hopped on; he had sandy blond hair and piercing blue eyes – I made a mental note not to like this guy, not to like any guy. Making friends would make everything all too much harder. Making friends means giving a chance to loose them in the war, and never getting them back.

The guy adjusted his backpack over his shoulder and walked down the isle of the bus, looking for a seat. He bumped into a few people as the bus went over so bumps on the road. He came closer to the back, getting closer to where I was sitting.

_Oh, for the love of God, _I thought in my head _Don't let him take the seat next to me._

I was content on my own, in the back, all alone.

I gritted my teeth as he stopped by my side. He gave me a gleaming white smile, "Hey, bro, mind if I take this seat?" He asked gesturing to the seat next to me.

I gave a small cough, "No prob," I said in a low voice.

He hesitated then dropped down next to me, pulling his backpack up against him. He turned to me and held out his hand, "I'm Dylan, you?"

I stared at his hand, my face as hard as stone. Dylan dropped his hand to his side. "I'm Fang."

He nodded then lent back in his seat, "Fang? Cool name. Is it a nickname?"

"No."

"Oh."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to stare out the window. I slowly closed my eyes and drifted off . . .

* * *

We were filled out of the bus, in single file. I walked out strong and noble, looking straight ahead of me instead of at our Sergeant.

"Dylan Streets!"

"Here!" Dylan yelled.

"Jamal Simons!"

"Here!"

"Fang Ride!"

"Here!" I yelled. Sergeant Thompson walked over, eying me.

"Fang?" He questioned me.

"Sir, yes, sir!" I looked straight past him.

"What kind of a name is that?" He barked.

Fury bubbled inside of me. I hated it when people made fun of my name.

"What are you, a vampire?" He asked, chuckling at his own lame joke.

I was about to do something that I'm sure I was gonna regret . . .

"Are you gonna kill all of us by sucking all of our blood?" He cackled.

"If I was!" I said vociferously, "I'd start with you, sir!"

Sergeant Thompson stared at me, then came right up in my face and growled, "Watch your mouth, Maggot." He then straightened his back and spat at the ground in front of me, then he went back to taking role.

Well, I guess I could check off "not making friends" on my list.

Great job, Fang.

Not.

* * *

"Yo, Fang," Jamal said from the bottom of the bunk bed that we shared. His head popped over from the side of his bed and he looked down at me, his long dread locks going everywhere.

"What?" I asked.

He smiled, "I don't mean to be mean, man, but what's your prob?"

I sighed. "What do you mean?" I whispered.

"Well . . ." He said loudly. A few people groaned and yelled for him to go to bed.

"Be quiet," I said.

He rolled his eyes, "What I mean is," he asked in a more hushed voice, "Why do you have to be so badass to everyone?"

I gulped, "If I make friends I might loose them in the war. If I get distracted then I'm doomed."

He nodded, "I get it . . . so if we're not friends . . . then what are we?"

I raised my eyebrows at him, "You and me?"

He nodded.

"Uhmm . . .acquaintances?' I tried.

He shrugged. "Good enough for me. Night, Fang."

I just sat in bed, staring straight up.

For some stupid ass reason I didn't get a wink of sleep.

Hmm . . . I blame Jamal for his little "friend" talk, because I was now reconsidering not making friends . . .

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	4. Chapter 4

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6 minutes in hell 4

Jamal was seriously chatting up a storm, and even though he was a great guy and all, I was seriously weighing to pros and cons of slapping him to shut up . . .

We were in a group of about 20 other people. Sergeant Thompson was teaching us the matters of modern war.

But, that didn't stop Jamal from running his big mouth.

I really had no idea what he was talking about anyways.

He was just rambling. "So, this guy was, like 15 feet tall," he said quickly to me in a hushed voice, "And I didn't even know what the heck to do! And so-"

"Jamal . . ."

"He was looking at me funny and I'm like-"

"_Jamal!_" I hissed between my clenched teeth.

The whole class turned around to stare at us, Sergeant Thompson looking totally pissed off, "Fang, Jamal, is there something that you two Chatty-Kathy's would like to share with the class?" He barked, crossing his arms across his chest and jutting out his chin.

"I was just trying to shut him up!" Jamal said, defensively.

I scoffed.

"Every man for himself, bro!" Jamal said from the side of his mouth.

I smirked, "Well, actually, Sergeant, we were just discussing whether or not you knew or not that you fly zipper was down."

Thompson's cheeks flushed red as a few people snickered. "Uhm, be right back, class." He rushed out of the class room with out a second glance.

Jamal cackled and tried giving me a high five but I just glared at him.

"Every man for himself?" I said.

He shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry, bro. It's nothin' personal."

"Uh huh, sure it isn't." I nodded my head slowly.

He gave me a small smile, "Hey . . . uhm, look! Newbies! Hahahah! They look so lost!" He pointed over to a bus as people filed out.

I narrowed my eyes at Jamal, "Jamal, we're Newbies too ya know."

"Well, we're a day old! So, therefore, we are no longer Newbies," he said and then pointed to the new kids, "They are."

I rolled my eyes and looked back over to them, just as a girl around my age jumped out of the bus like there might have been a bomb planted in it. She had long, curly blond hair that fell down her back to about half way, she had bright brown eyes and fine heavenly skin. She walked with a grace that I'd never seen anyone posses and she had this beauty that I couldn't define.

I found myself staring at her and I didn't know why.

"Fang? Yo Fang, what're you staring at?" He fallowed my gaze and his eyes landed on her. His eyes widened and he whistled, "Damn, who is that _fine_ lady?"

I looked at him, "The blondie?"

He looked at me, puzzled, "What? Aw, no. I'm talkin' about that tall girl next to her."

Oh. I get it now. I looked back over at the blonde girl. She looked up at me and I looked at the floor, embarrassed for being caught. She blushed a little and then the tall girl spoke to her and then pulled her along with the rest of her group.

For some reason, her image burned into my brain for the rest of the day.

And I didn't know why.

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**Hey people! Please R&R! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

6 minutes in heaven 5

I was walking into the Grand Hall to get some breakfast when I saw her again.

She was bending next to the mail box with a piece of paper and an envelope. She scrawled some words onto it then placed it in the envelope and sealed it shut. She looked around herself to make sure no one was watching her.

I chuckled to myself as she didn't notice I was standing right at the door watching her. I sort of had that effect on people sometime, me not being noticed.

She gave the letter a kiss and then quickly dropped it into the box where it would be sent.

I decided to go over to her and talk to her. Putting my tray of food down on a table I strided over to her, "I saw that," I said playfully.

She spun around.

God, she was even more beautiful than I'd thought. I was standing close enough that I could see ever freckle on her face. Her full lips were a soft pink and she had pearly white teeth.

Her curly blonde hair, I noticed, was more of a honey blonde and had streaks of browns and gold's. She had long thick eyelashes, and her eyes lured me in.

She stuttered a little, "What . . . what do you mean?"

I chuckled and gave her a reassuring smile. "You kissed your letter before you let it go."

Her cheeks turned a deep scarlet red, "Oh."

I moved a little closer so that I could look into her eyes better. Now I could see that there were flecks of gold in her eyes. "But you did it for good luck, right?"

"Yeah," she said in a small voice.

I cleared my throat then held out my hand towards her, "I'm Fang."

She stared at it and raised her eye brows at me until I dropped my hand. "Hmm, I'm Max, and I don't shake hands."

Just like me . . .

"You knew here?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah," she said shortly.

"Me too . . . where ya from?" I said, leaning against he wall and crossing my arms casually.

She smiled at me, and my heart beat a little faster, "Arizona."

"Oh cool! Same here," I nodded.

"Yo Fang!" A very familiar voice shrilled my name.

I looked away from Max to see Jamal sprinting towards us, in a very uncoordinated manor too. He had a big goofy smile on his face also. He slowed down when he neared Max and I. He introduced himself to Max then turned back to me, "Hey man, Sergeant T wants you to report to him, and he sounded a little peeved, so . . ." He shrugged.

Dammit. I didn't want to go. I sighed, "Ok." I turned back to Max, "It was nice meeting you, Max!" I said to her as I walked away.

"You too," she said.

I waved back at her as Jamal pulled me along.

I looked over at him, "What does Sergeant want?"

Jamal chuckled.

Staring at him curiously I asked, "What's so funny?"

Jamal's face got serious, "Sergeant actually didn't need ya. I made that up."

I was about to turn around to go back to Max but Jamal pulled me back.

"Listen to me, man. I did ya a big favor. I looked like you were gettin' a little close to Miss Maxie over there," he crossed his arms.

I scoffed, "Who are you, my mother?"

He shook his head, his face grim. "Look. My brother was in the army before me and he got attached to this one chick. He told me that he was gonna ask her to marry him but he never got the chance. Why? Because she got killed in the war. After that my brother was never the same. He seemed . . . immune to everyone else around him. Right now he's going through the stages of depression, and I've seen what it does to a person. You're a good guy, Fang. I'd hate to see if the same thing happened to you too."

I stared at him, my mouth hanging open.

Jamal gave me a sad smile, patted my shoulder then left me.

Wondering how I should have responded and what I was supposed to do now.

**Okey dokey, please R&R and also check out some of my other books on my profile! Thank you! Love ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey sorry I haven't uploaded in a while! ANyways! Please R&R and check out my new book "A Westside Story"! Thank you!**

6 minutes in hell 6

"Maggot!" He yelled at her, "Max! You have to climb down the wall with the rope! Not just jump off the side like that! Do it again, maggot! And do it faster! Remember! I'm timing you on this!"

Well, he wasn't gonna get her to listen like that. Max curtly redid the drill again, climbing up the wall quickly and fastening the loop of the rope onto her belt. She went down the wall quickly, and slipped. She let out a startled screech and then grasped onto the rope securely as she swung back and forth, hitting the wall with force.

I winced.

"Come on, Max!" Sergeant yelled at her, his voice getting rough. "You can do better than that! You can't just freeze up like that in the middle of a war!"

Determination was plastered all over her face as she went back up the wall again to try the drill one more time. She lowered herself, pressing her feet against the wooden wall and then pushing off, then pressing back again and then pushing off once more. She repeated this pattern effortlessly as she came to the ground, doing all of this within only a small fraction of time.

She went over to Sergeant Charles, striding over his way with confidence of what she's just done.

He sputtered as he explains to her that she'd made a record of how fast she's accomplished the drill.

She set a record . . .

And she walked away as if that were just the most boring thing in the world.

"Yo, Fang," Jamal said, snapping his fingers in front of me. "What's wrong with you, man?"

I shrugged. "I'm tired."

"Well, you might wanna snap out of it, because Sergeant Thompson was eyeing you all during class." Jamal and I started walking back to our bunk beds inside the camp as we were dismissed from class.

I really didn't know what was up with me . . .

But for some reason I couldn't get Max out of my mind.

* * *

Jamal and I walked into the Cafeteria together. He was strangely quiet too . . .

I made a mental note in the back of my mind to keep an eye on him . . . since he was my friend in all.

As we came into the room, I looked over the crowds of people. Don't ask me why, but I just did. It was something I did without even telling myself to do.

Max's gaze and mine locked and a felt a warm smile spread across my face.

_Wha? Why was this happening? I'd never do this for any other girl back in my home town. _I was always so locked up and quiet. But no that I'd met Max, well, it was a totally different story.

Without discussing, Jamal and I headed over to her table where she and another girl that was in my resent class, I think Samantha was her name, sat together, eating their dinner.

Samantha quickly whispered something to Max and Max's cheeks immediately heated up.

I fought back the urge to smile at how cute she looked when she blushed.

_What? Where did that come from? _I asked myself.

"Hey," I said to Max as Jamal and I stopped at her table.

She looked up at me and said with a small voice, "Hi."

There was a deadly silence that fell over us all as we just stood there. Finally, Jamal clapped his hands together and looked at Samantha, "So, what're they serving the cafeteria tonight?"

Samantha gave a digusted look then shoved her plate of "food" in front of Jamal to see, "Honestly, I don't know."

Jamal stared at it for a minute then said slowly, "Uhmm, well, I wasn't even that hungry anyways." He sighed, "Mind if we sit with you ladies?" Jamal asked nicely.

I noticed Samantha turn to Max and give her a wink, which made Max blush an even deeper red.

Samantha turned back to Jamal and I, "Sure," she said warmly, "Go ahead, pull up some chairs."

I turned around and grabbed a chair next to Max, who looked away shyly. Why was she acting like this? She was so much more bad-ass last time I talked to her.

But still, I couldn't keep myself from think how adorable she was.

Samantha and Jamal launched into a conversation, leaving Max and I out of the loop. She slumped back in her chair and played with a strand of her hair, not meeting my eyes.

_Come on! _I coaxed myself. _Turn on that Fang-charm! Be nice! Be charming._

I tried smiling at her warmly. "So, did your family get that letter?" I asked, remembering just the other day when I'd caught her giving her letter a quick peck.

She gave me a small smile and shrugged. "I don't know. I hope so."

We both started chatting with her, without us even noticing that after a while we were the only ones left in the cafeteria, still talking until it was dark outside . . .

**So, how do ya like it? Please R&R! Oooh! And I uploaded another chapter for "6 Minutes in Heaven"! Check that out please! And also please read a new story that I've just published "A Westside Story"! R&R R&R R&R! Thank you so much!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey people! Please R&R! Thank ya!**

6 minutes in hell 7

I held Max closely to me outside of the cafeteria. She cried softly into my chest and I could feel her tears sinking into my T-shirt.

"I'm not usually like this," I say slowly to her.

She pauses for a second. "Like what?" She finally asks.

"Emotional," I say flatly. "No one has ever gotten me to be . . . more open until I met you. And now _I_ don't know what to do."

She giggled a little and I got a little happy inside at how beautiful her laugh was. I knew that I wanted to hear her laugh again. It was just so luring just like herself.

"You think that's funny?" I said in a high voice, wanting to hear her melodic laugh again.

"Little bit," she said.

"That's just great, ya know?" I said mockingly. "Going to joining the army usually makes you as tough as a rock but all it's seemed to do has made me as soft as a marshmallow." It was true. She was turning me into a softy somehow.

I could tell that she was smiling into me and I mentally patted myself on the back.

We both stayed quiet like that for a moment. Enjoying the silence.

It wasn't an awkward silence; no, it was a silence filled with many unspoken words.

People started filling out of the cafeteria and I made eye contact with Jamal and Sam as they came out, staring at Max in my arms.

Max started to detangle herself from me and I reluctantly did so too.

"So I'll see you tomorrow." _Of coarse you'll see her, Fang! What a dumb thing to say! _

She nodded, her face more business-like and determined. It made me want to laugh.

Max took notice as our friends waited impatiently by the building.

"I think we've been caught," I said in a low voice so that only she could hear me.

"I think so," she cracked a smile.

Our friends joined us and Sam took Max along with her to the girls sleeping area. I watched as they left and then felt Jamal starring at me, his eyes burning holes into the back of my head.

I turned around and glared back at him for a minute, my face as hard as stone.

Knowing Jamal, he wasn't going to last in this mini-staring contest.

His eyebrows twitched, the corners of his mouth fighting back against himself. I knew it was gonna be over soon.

"Okay!" He suddenly yells, throwing his hands up into the air, "You win!"

I patted his shoulder as we walked back to our cotts. "It's okay, budding. No one back at home can take my death-stare for too long."

We walked and then he brought up the topic that I'd was hoping he'd let slip by, "So . . . Max."

"What about her?" I questioned.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

My eyes narrowed at him. "Don't play dumb with me . . ."

"I'm not playing!" He said defensively.

I gave him a half grin, "So, you're saying that you're-"

"You get what I mean," he said cutting me off. "But really, you and Max? Did my whole 'don't fall for a girl in the army' speech mean nothing to you?"

I stopped in my steps. "No, man, it meant everything to me. And that's why I'm so scared right now that I might be falling for a girl . . ."

"Falling . . ." Jamal said dragging the word on.

I closed my eyes, "Falling in love with a girl I just met not only a week ago."

I opened my eyes and Jamal was staring daggers at me, "Dammit!"

"Jamal, it's . . . not that big of a deal." I said.

"Yeah it is, you idiot." He started pacing back and forth.

What the heck was his problem? "Yeah, well, what about you and Sam?"

He blinked and looked taken aback.

"Oh, yeah, I saw you flirting it up with her," I pointed out.

He shook that thought away. "She's just a friend."

"Sure she is . . ."

"She is." He said stearnly. "But remember, if and Max work out together, you could get distracted in the middle of the war trying to help her and get hurt, or she might get hurt and you might get distracted again and then you'd get hurt. Or! Or you'd end up like my brother! Oh, man, there are so many bad things that could happen now!"

"Yeah," I said, agreeing. Jamal looked up at me like I was crazy.

"You agree with me?" I said, sounding like he didn't believe me.

I nodded slowly, "Yes I agree."

"_Really?"_

Clasping his shoulder, "Yes, man, I think you're right. There are endless things that could happen that are bad." I looked down at the ground and then back up at him, "But there are good things that could happen too. Like, for instance, me being actually happy for the first time in my life. All just because I love a girl. Wouldn't it all be worth it then?"

**R&R and remember to read 6 minutes in heaven too to get Max's POV and see what happened! THank you again! Please REad and review! Just press the button and tell me what ya think. It aint that hard, I've done it for other books before! ha ha ha ha ha!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Me: *Sneeze* Ahhh-chooo! Ahhh-chooo!**

**Me: *Pauses for a second. Waits. Then . . .* Ahhhhhhhhh-chooooooooo!**

**_Three minutes later_**

**Brother: *Shouts from down the hallway* Bless you!**

**Yeah, that's my life.**

**So, anyways, my lacrosse season is over and I have more free time than you could possibly believe! Annnnddd summer break starts in 2 more weeks! Exams are this coming week and I'm scared outa my wits! So, here's the next chapter, I hope you like it, and please R&R! Thank you so much for reading!**

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6 minutes in hell 8

I tossed and turned that night in bed as I thought about one thing. One topic. One person.

Max.

She was so much more complex than I thought. She was strong and dedicated and just the thought of her made my heart beat faster.

And that scared the hell outa me.

We were all lined up outside in the morning, the grass covered in a light dew and everyone seeming like they were about to fall asleep as they stood their grounds.

I guess I couldn't really blame them.

It was 4:00 in the morning after all.

Then, I saw her, looking noble and superior and far fiercer than anyone else out on the training field that morning.

Rushing up to take the open spot next to her – Jamal following reluctantly behind, dragging his feet as he tried keeping his eyes open from not enough sleep.

I stood tall next to her, my chin tilted up a little bit.

It was just then that I realized that I was about two heads taller than her and bigger built. She was seemingly frail next to me. Huh.

But none the less, she made herself look as vicious as she needed to be at times.

She looked up at me, nodded at my presence and then turned back the other way as Sergeant Charles walked down the long line of people. "How ya doin', maggots?" He asked everyone, his voice disgusted.

No one responded, and I didn't expect anyone to.

Sergeant Charles walks up to Max; Max just staring straight, not making eye contact. Her teeth were locked like she was fighting herself not to say anything that might cause trouble. Sergeant got right up in her face, "Don't let that little stunt of yours from yesterday get to your head, Miss Ride. No one leaves my training acting all happy-go-lucky."

Max stared blankly at him, like she could see right through him.

"Ya hear me?" He sneers at her. It was taking all my will not to just pull him away from her and teach him a lesson . . .

Max bits her lip, and then looks up at Sergeant Charles with a lust in her eyes. "Loud and clear," she said lively.

Sergeant Charles shakes his head like she's crazy, "It's sir, yes, sir, to you missy." He kicked dirt on her army boots.

She grinded her teeth, and waited for a second like she was thinking. She exhaled and nodded to him.

She had no idea how much trouble she could be getting herself into . . .

"Say it," Sergeant Charles pressed. Sergeant Thompson stood to the side of the field, watching and recording "progress of loyalty" on his clipboard.

Max drew in a breath as Sergeant Charles tilted his head closer, "SIR, YES, SIR! She screamed to him.

Charles looked taken aback, and started rubbing his ears and blinking. Thompson started writing rapidly on his clipboard.

By now, I could tell that everyone around us was watching. And come on, how could they not? Max was practically seething with annoyance.

Sgt. Charles looked everywhere but at Max for a second then narrowed his eyes at Max, "One hundred push ups, maggot!"

"_What?_ Max sputtered, "You've gotta be freaking kiddin' me! All I was doin', Charlie-boy, was what you told me to do!"

"_Two _hundred!" Sergeant Charles yells.

Max looks pissed off as she kneels to the ground and starts counting out her push ups as Sergeant nods and then walks back down the line of people, inspecting them.

"Hey." I whisper out of the corner of my mouth.

I look out of the corner of my eyes to see Max peering up at me through her think long eyelashes, "Mhm?"

I gave a soft laugh, "Nice job standing up to Sgt. C., but you might wanna watch out for yourself. He might give you a demerit. And if you get three of those, you get dishonorable discharge."

She snorted, "And what the heck does that mean, Mr. Talkative?"

I stared at her for a long second, then in a low very serious voice I said, "That you could be sent home."

She paused midway as she was going down for another pushup.

Max closed her eyes and seemed to be battling against her. Like she was two people trying to decide what to inside of her head.

Max looked up at me again, giving me the briefest smile, "You're right," she nodded, "Thanks for telling me, Fang."

I nodded back, "Sure," and smiled unwillingly at her.

Sergeant Charles came back over to Max, glaring at her as she finished her pushups, not even breaking a sweat.

"One hundred ninety seven, one hundred ninety eight, one hundred ninety nine . . ." she paused dramatically, "And . . . two hundred!" Max said excitedly like she'd just won the million-dollar lottery.

She whipped her dirty hands on her cargo pants and stood up tall as Sergeant Charles glared at her, his eye threatening. But Max wasn't cowering down.

"First demerit," Sergeant hisses in an ice cold voice.

She cringes at his words.

* * *

**I seriously think that I had too much "fun in the sun" today. Me and my friend were at our neighborhood pool and we stayed there for five hours. The whole time I didn't want to go in the water because the pool had just opened and it was freezing. Now, my skin is tan and a bit irritable. Ugh... ouch, it hurts. :( please R&R and make me feel better! hahaha thanks again for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

6 minutes in hell 9

She wasn't talking.

She wasn't talking to Jamal or Sami.

And most importantly . . . she wasn't talking to me either.

Max and I walked to lunch together, her eyes scrunched up in concern.

I couldn't take the silence that radiated off her anymore. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Me, Fang, Mr. Tall Dark and _Silent _couldn't handle the quietness. Get over it. "Max," I said in a rough voice.

She looked up at me for the first time since she got her demerit, and I could see how much this was upsetting her by the look on her face.

God, I wanted to hurt Sergeant for doing this to her . . .

"Huh?" She said innocently.

"What're you thinking about?" I asked as I held the door open for her as she walked into the cafeteria.

Max shrugged weakly as Jamal, Sam, her and I all grabbed a table to sit at, "I'm . . . I'm thinking about what I'm gonna do if I get sent home . . ."

I sighed deeply, "You're not gonna get sent home, Max. I won't let them."

She looked up at me with so much emotion in her eyes – and then shielded her passion from me again.

" . . . Thanks."

I nodded to her slowly.

. Once we'd all gotten our food, Max just stared at hers like she didn't know what to do with it. She started staring at the doors to the cafeteria for a couple of minutes, and I started wondering if she was plotting to escape . . .

Since I was sitting next to her, I elbowed her lightly, trying to get her attention. "Max, you haven't eaten anything. You need something to eat."

She shook her head and then stared blankly at her hands that were folded neatly in her lap, "Not hungry."

I smirked at myself and murmured, "That's unusual . . ."

Sami finally spoke up. "Max, you haven't had anything to eat since this morning at 5:00 am. That was – " Sam did the mental math in her head, "–seven hours ago. You've gotta be starving."

Max shook her head again, her long curly golden blonde hair swaying back and forth.

Jamal, Sam, and I all looked at each other like we didn't know what to do.

Max finally breathed out and then took a scoop of food with her spoon and ate a bit. She swallowed quickly and then asked us, "Happy?"

We looked at her, unsure if we should say anything.

I leaned over to Max, brushing my lips against her ear and making her skin tickle as I breathed so close to her neck, and then said in such a low voice only she could hear me, "Max . . . you have to do better than that. Just eat some more, please. It was only one demerit. _One_. When I said that I wasn't letting them make you go home, I meant that. Please, eat some more. For me, Max. I hate seeing you like this," I confessed to her. I'd put so much emotion in what I'd told her it scared me.

Was I turning into a softie or what?

Max cupped her face in her hands for a minute, then rubbed her cheeks. With one more glance at me she looked back at her plate of food and started eating again.

Jamal nodded at her from across the table and then started making Sam laugh by the way he was eating – you don't even want to know how messy of an eater he is, trust me.

I could see Max see me smiling and watching her from the corner of my eyes, and she smiled back, her cheeks tinted a little pinker.

Was she blushing?

She tried to hide her face as she took another bite of the food.

But, to tell ya the truth, seeing her blush made me smile even bigger.

**Please R&R . . . Thank you for reading ;D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey viewers, I really hope that you like this chapter. I like the ending . . . it made me happy inside. Haha! So, right now, I'm home sick ( noooo) and I had to miss a date with my boyfriend. So, I hope you're happy with the chapter. Hahaha, aww I'm just kidding. I hope you like it and please R&R!**

6 minutes in hell 10

"Max," I whisper to her as I throw a balled up piece of paper at her with a question I have for her.

_-M_

_wanna hang out tonight and play some b-ball?_

_-F_

That's what it says.

Her eyes skim the note and then she smiles. She scribbles down her response and then pelts it at my head when Sergeant Thompson wasn't looking.

I open the note.

_Hell ya! I'm so gonna beat ya!_

I nod at her and grin widely.

After Max and I had gotten our dinner from the cafeteria, we had escaped from our friends and went to the basketball hoop that they had outside of the boy's sleeping rooms.

At first, we just passed the ball around, shooting at will.

"So," I asked Max hesitantly, throwing her the ball. "What's your family like?"

She paused for a minute, and then threw that ball into the basket, making a perfect 3-pointer. "Uhm . . . well, I have two adoptive sisters, Monique and Ariel. But they go by Nudge and Angel. Nudge is 11 years old. She's so beautiful. And then there's Angel. And she really is an angel. She's just so precious and sweet."

"And what about your mom?" I ask her.

She frowns and looks off into the distance and for a second I was afraid I'd said something wrong. Then she sighs and answers me, "I don't know my mom. My adopted mom, Dr. M, is amazing though."

She was adopted? Huh. I didn't know that.

"And what about your family?" Max shoots back at me.

I did a lay-off with the ball. "Uhm I have a brother that's my age, completely opposite in looks. His name is Jeff but we call him Iggy. He's blind."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, looking at her shoes.

I shrug. "I also have a dad that's divorced, and a little 8-year old brother named Gazzy. Don't ask about his name. And he's . . . diabolical."

She giggles and seems surprised that she did.

"So, your parents were cool with you coming here? It took my dad so much convincing to get them to let me come . . ." I remember all the convincing I had to do with my family, all the tears, all the agonizing pain that they went through.

She gulped and looked back down at her shoes. "Actually . . . I told them that I wanted to come here on the day of my birthday, but they wouldn't let me, so I ran away that night to come here."

I stared at her for a minute in amazement. Then in a hushed voice I told her, "That was . . . brave."

"Thanks . . . but it's not that big of a deal," She said and tried shooting at the basket again. She missed.

I went to get the ball and came back with it. I handed her the ball again and came around her. I put my arms around her and held the basket ball with her, "Just make sure that you aim high . . . make sure that you know what you want."

I wasn't sure what I was talking about . . . aiming high in real life or aiming higher while shooting the basketball? Making sure you know what you want as in doing what you think is right or playing the right moves when shooting a basket.

Either way, when Max and I shot the next ball together, my larger hands on top of hers, she made the basket, it went right threw.

Perfectly.

**How'd ya like it? R&R please! Thank you so much for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Heheheh there is a MAJOR cliffhanger at the end of this chapter. Mwuhahahah. Anyways, I hope ya like it and please make sure that you read 6 minutes in heaven too. I dont know why but this story has more viewers than that. It confuses meeeee. SO R&R**

6 minutes in hell 11

Outside the rain was thick and fogged the windows of the dorm room that Jamal, and two other guys – Evan and Dylan – shared. Two other of our friends – Ari and Eddie - had come over to hang out.

I plugged in my IPod and drifted off to sleep as I lounged on my bunk-bed and I waited for Max, Jamal, and Sam to come to hang out and play some games . . .

A pillow hit me.

I was in panic mode for a second, and then I looked over the edge of my bed at the direction the pillow had hit me. And there stood Max, her hair wet from the outside rain, and her eyes large and expectant.

"Hey, Max," I said as I ran my fingers through my hair. A couple of the guys chuckled. I noticed Sam standing next to Jamal. I nodded her way and she smiled.

After Jamal had introduced the guys to Sam and Max – Dylan looking up and down Max's figure the whole time – I jumped off the top bed. "So, what game should we play first?"

All the guys suggested spin the bottle. I rolled my eyes at them.

Jamal got an empty glass bottle of soda and then got Ari to spin it. Dylan smiled as it hit him and he looked over at Max with eager eyes. I clenched my hands at my side and watched as he moved towards her. His lips pressed against hers hard and she looked surprised. Max pulled back and Dylan had the content look on his face that I just wanted to slap.

"Your turn to spin it," I said gruffly. I noticed Max looking at me.

Next, when the bottle landed on Jamal, much to my liking, he kissed Sam instead of Max. He held her face in his hands a kissed her softly on the cheek. I could practically see the bliss in Sam's eyes.

And then . . . the bottle landed on me. All eyes turned to me and I looked up at Max. She looked so innocent and ready for anything.

I was ready for this.

_Why the hell are you making such a big deal out of this?_ I yelled at myself. _You've kissed girls before! Plenty of them! And you've kissed them in spin the bottle at home, too!_

But, the truth was, there was a difference.

All the girls that I've kissed, well, they were just girls.

Max – she was so much more.

She was a girl that I might actually . . . love.

I got up from the ground and walked over to where Max was sitting. I breathed in, then lightly pulled her up to me and lightly wrapped my arms around her skinny body. I looked into her eyes and let down my wall that blocked up all my emotions and the pressed my lips to hers.

She was surprised at first, and then she relaxed and let me deepen the kiss.

I was vaguely aware of the fact that we were still kissing in front of our friends, and they were making kissy noises.

But I didn't care.

Because all I could ever care about, was in my arms.

After we decided we'd played enough of spin the bottle, we played truth or dare.

"Max," Dylan said. She looked up to him. "Truth or Dare?"

She folded her arms. "Dare."

This was how she played. She always picked dare. Not once did she pick truth. It was like she didn't want to let anyone know about her.

Dylan gave her a tired look. "Uhm . . . I dare you to . . . run down the hall and bang on all the dorm room doors."

Max got up off her feet and casually walked out of the room and down the hallway. Everyone got up from the ground to watch. She took one glance at us and then ran down the hallway banging on all the guys doors. A couple guys came out, wondering what the heck was going on. Their faces were priceless.

Until they saw who was banging on there door.

They smiled at her, and asked her what she was doing.

"Sorry, guys. It was just a dare that my friends had me do. No, biggie, right?" She gave a half-hearted smile and then walked back into the dorm room with us. She closed the door quickly behind her and her eyes widened, "Never ask me to do something like that again."

She laughed. "Okay, Sam, Truth or Dare?"

"Hmm . . . Truth," Sam said.

Max thought for a second. "Is there a guy here in this room that you might like? More than a friend?"

Sam blushed. "Yes." She told us sheepishly.

Max's eyebrows shot up.

Sami ignored this and turned to me. "Truth or Dare."

I sighed. "I guess I'll take a chance. I've already done all Dare. So, Truth."

Sam smiled like she knew exactly what she what to ask me. "Do you love Max?"

My eyes widened and Max smacked Sam in the arm.

"Ow!" Sam cried. "Jeez, Max!"

"Sam!" Max yelled.

Sam looked back at me; so did Max.

I took a deep breath and gave a crooked smile and said . . .

**CLIFFYYYYY. hahah so how did you like it? Tell me with a review please. Pretty please with sugar on top? Also make sure you read the new chapter to 6 MINUTES IN HEAVEN.**

**R&R**

**R&R  
**

**R&R**

**~Laurel~  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Yeah, I know, this is much shorter than the chapter i just uploaded for 6 minutes in heaven... but still. Please read them both and please R&R! THank youuuu! I hope you like them!**

6 minutes in hell 12

"I–"

But it was too late.

An explosion of heat and fire rushed through our dorm room from outside. Grey smoke flitted through the room and I watched as more fiery rain fell from the sky from the window.

Bombs.

"Let the rain fall," I whispered and cursed.

The room was on fire. Another blast of raging fire and a wave of heat hit me and I slammed against one of the walls that weren't burning. I cringed.

Alarms were bleeding into my hearing and I searched around me for Max.

The smoke from the fire blinded my vision and tears formed in my eyes from the debris.

Some of the smoke escaped through our now open door to our dorm room and I was able to see Max – just as a blank burning wood lands on her. She slams into the ground and the impact of seeing this is enough to inflict the pain on me that she must be dealing with.

"_Max_!" I scream.

But she doesn't hear me.

Blood trickles down her hairline and down her cheeks. I'm filled with horror at the sight of this.

I try to reach for her but a patch of fire blooms between me and her. "Max!" I yell again, trying to get her attention. She looks up at me with a helpless look on her face. She smiles a little at me and then her head tilts back down to the floor, like it was too much for her told hold it up. Next to her, Evan laid on the ground, bloody and most-likely dead.

I yell at her one more time. "Max!"

This time, something flicker's in her blazing eyes. She blinks and then determination and dismay fill her expression. She looks back at me and the words that come out of her mouth shock me – and scare me.

"Get out of the fire, you idiot!"

She's looking at the door that's so close to me and her face is so desperate. I give her a crazed look.

"No! I'm not leaving you, Max!" I try again to urgently get to her just as a window shatters because of another bomb. Shards of glass shatter all around her and her head drops to the ground.

"No! Max! Get up! Please!" I realize now that I'm not crying because of the smoke – but because of _her. _For the fear of losing her.

But, at that moment, I made a promise to myself:

I wasn't coming out of this alive if it meant that Max wouldn't be standing next to me.

I was going to stay here with her – no matter what.

**Tehee! Please R&R and I'll try to update soon! Please R&R! Thank you for reading!**

**R&R**

**R&R**

**R&R!**

**(lol)**

**~Laurel~  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey everyone! I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving! I know I did! I got to hang out with my adorable 1 year old baby cousin all night! So, now that it's Thanksgiving Weekend for me, I'm gonna try and upload all of my stories, and maybe upload a new story that I had a dream about last night! (Although, it might not be a good idea to add another book when I barely upload the stories I already have . . .) Oh well. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter and when you're done reading it please R&R! Check out 6 minutes in Heaven too!  
**

6 minutes in hell 13

Max lay unconscious next to Evan – who I was sure now was dead – on the floor that was on fire. Fear seeped in through my blood and adrenaline ran through my veins.

I don't know how I did it, but I did.

Jumping threw the wall of flames that had separated me from Max; I launched myself into action as I crouched down next to her and felt for her pulse.

It was slow, but it was still there – Thank God.

With one last glance to Evan, I scooped Max up in my arms and made a dash for the door – but that was before I saw the chunk of debrief that had fallen down on my leg. I yelled in pain but I didn't stop going.

Max was my top priority at the time.

The hallways were empty and barren of life as I limped down it with Max in my arms. The only sound was the flames licking the sides of the walls and the distant fire alarm going off. Besides that, we were completely alone.

Just then, I felt a vibrating in my pocket – my cell phone.

I leaned against the side of a wall and pulled out my phone with one hand and pressed talk.

"Hello?" I said my voice gravelly.

"Fang! Oh, man, is it good to hear your voice!" Jamal said on the other end of the phone. "Where the hell are you? And Max? Sam is freaking out."

"Where are you guys?" I hissed in pain as I tripped over a piece of wood. "Max and I are still in the dorm rooms."

There's silence on the other end of the phone as Jamal tries to asses this. "Dude, I'm coming in to help."

"Don't. There's too much fire. I've got things under control," I say between my teeth. I find the stairwell and try plying the door open with the small ounce of strength I have left.

"How's Max? Can I talk to her?" Jamal asks me.

I suck in a breath as I hold Max tighter to my chest with my arms even though I was pretty sure my collar bone was broken. "She's unconscious."

"_What_? How'd that happen?" Jamal yelled. I could slightly hear Sam in the background of the phone asking what was going on.

"I'll talk to you later, man. Don't worry about us." And with that, I let my phone fall to my feet. I don't have time to chat with Jamal.

I see the opening of the dorm rooms and I push it open with my back. Outside, all of the soldiers and sergeants and everyone else was milled out into the center of the field. I realize then that everyone had been quiet until Max and I had come out through the door. Everyone starts talking at once as they rush towards Max and I and take her from me.

"She needs to go to the infirmary," someone tells me.

"No! Let me stay with her, please," I beg.

Jamal finds me in the swarm of the crowd and pats me on the back, "Glad to see you're still alive, dude."

I nod in his response and turn back to Max to see Sam rushing towards her. "Oh my god, MAX!"

"Please let me go with her," I beg the nurse one more time. She sighs.

"Okay, but I need to take care of you too." She points to my arm as I clutch it to my side. "Looks like your collar bone is broken."

I nod. "Yeah, I've broken it before. I'm gonna need a sling?"

"Probably." She and I start walking to the sanatorium. She lays Max down on a metal board and then she turns back to me.

"Help her first," I say when she tries to find me a sling in a closet full of medicine. She turns away from me and back to Max. She hooks up a heart monitor.

"Turn around," the nurse tells me. "I have to take off her clothes so that I can treat her."

I look around me to see every cot in the infirmary filled up. Men and women are running all around them, trying to bandage them up carefully. I can hear a heart monitor go to one long beep and I know someone is dead.

"She's covered," the nurse behind me says. I look back over at Max and a towel is covering her from her upper torso to her mid-thighs. The nurse pulls her hair away from her face and tries to rub some of the dead skin away. The nurse turns back to me, "My name is Kathy by the way."

I nod at her, "I'm . . . Nick." I use my real name so she doesn't spare time to ask me why I like to be called Fang. I want her to use all her time fixing Max.

Kathy turns back to Max and starts rubbing a substance on her arms that look like aloe.

"It helps soothe the burns," Kathy tells me as her sharp blue eyes pierce into mine. She holds out a cup of it to me. "Rub some of this on your cheeks."

I do as I'm told and the pain on my face does subside as I lightly apply the goo to my skin.

Kathy turns back to me again after smoothing some of the substance over Max's body. "Be right back; I have to get her a pain-killer shot." In a wisp of her graying hair, Kathy is gone.

I look over back at Max and walk towards her. She looks so broken, and helpless. It kills me inside to see her like this. I rub her cheek lightly, making sure I don't touch any of her burn marks. Her lips are chapped and dehydrated. Her usually curly hair matted to the sides of her face like they were burned on – which they were. Max's skin was covered with splotches of burns.

I blame myself for not getting to her fast enough.

Kathy comes back and shoos me away from Max's side so she can get to her. I look over at Max's heart monitor as Kathy injects her with a pain-killer.

I watch as the line dips up and down over the line and goes back up. The beeps are slowing, I realize. My heart drops at this.

"Kathy . . ." I say in a slow voice. But Kathy is too occupied to tending to Max to pay any attention to me.

The beeping gets even more leisurely. "_Kathy_," I say in a more demanding voice.

"What?" She snaps at me.

I look back over at the heart monitor as it gradually forms into a more curved line. "Do something!"

A panicked look crosses over Kathy's face and then she turns to me. "Nick . . . I'm sorry. There's not much I can do."

I shake my head and make a beeline to the medicine cabinet. I sift through bottles of cough medicine, advile, motreine, pain-killer, bandages . . .

And then I see what might be Max's savior.

A syringe.

A syringe filled with adrenaline.

I quickly grab it and run back to Max's side.

Kathy's eyes are wild as she see's what I'm about to do. "Nick! Stop it! That will defiantly kill her!" She reaches out to stop me but I'm already sinking the needle into Max's heart and plunging the dark liquid inside into her chest.

Kathy screams as the heart monitor dies and I stare at Max in horror.

Had I just kill her?

**Thanks for reading**

**I'm thankful for all of my viewers!**

**R&R  
R&R  
R&R**

**Love,**

**Laurel**

**P.S. Make sure you read 6 minutes in heaven  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**Wow, I feel like a total jerk. I looked at my traffic graph thingy and I realize that the number of people checking in on my stories are way more than I expected. _Way more._ *sigh* I really tried to update, but it's sorta hard to do that with writers block. So, hear I am, trying to write for you viewers at 12:31 at night on a weeknight. I really wish that I'd gotten this done earlier. I'm really sorryyyyyy. Please forgive me! I love my viewers! I've just had a lot going on - school, drama, a friend got in a car accident, the holidays, my family yada yada ... the list goes on. Anyways, please R&R and I hope you like it! I really hope so!**

6 minutes in hell 14

"What the hell did you just do?" Kathy screams at me. She scurries over to Max's side and presses her two fingers to Max's throat, checking for her pulse.

Checking to see if I've just killed her.

I sputter for words. "I – I don't, I – I . . ." I stare at the syringe in my hand, completely drained of all the liquid inside. Rage flashes inside of me and in an instant, the glass in my hand snaps and my hand starts to ooze a dark red.

"Oh, Lordy!" Kathy exclaims.

"What?" I run up eagerly to her side and stare at Max's lifeless form. I cringe. _"You've just killed her," I could hear Kathy saying. "You killed her._

But, that wasn't what she was saying. No, she wasn't saying anything at all. Actually, we were watching the heart monitor as it stirred.

_Beep._

My heart thudded and I clenched my teeth. I said a silent prayer just as the monitor made another sound. A sound of life.

_Beep, beep . . ._

The joyous sound continues, bringing in speed. A small tear escapes the corner of my eyes and I quickly wipe it away. God, I was being such a whimp.

But, this was Max. The girl that I cared about. Beautiful, wild, luring Max. Her smile came into my mind; her soft, subtle blush. Her laugh rang in my ears and I knew something amazing was just happening.

Kathy gasps and turns to me. "I think you've just saved her life. Again."

It was unbelievable, but Max's heart was beating at a stable rate. I was sitting just on the edge of her cot that the nurse had laid her in and was stroking her matted hair. She looked like she'd just walked through a category five hurricane – and she might as well have.

"Max . . . wake up." I gulped. What if she was in a coma? "Please . . ."

My head dropped a little. There really was no use in talking to someone who wasn't conscious.

But when was I ever a quitter?

Suddenly, I noticed Max's grip tighten on the blanket that was wrapped around her. Her eyes flutter open and it's like the sun is rising for the first time.

"Max," my voice sounds so relived, I'm aware of.

The look on her face was so powerless and weak as the tears start the well up in her eyes. A small amount of color forms in the tips of her cheeks – she's _blushing. _She licks her chapped lips and then looks up at me, the tears running over her skin. "Fang," she say's in a broken voice.

Before I'm able to restrain myself, I'm brushing away her tears, but it was no use. The tears weren't stopping any time soon. I pull Max into my chest, pulling my one arm – the other was in a sling because of the glass I'd broken from the syringe – around her and rubbing her back lightly. Sobs raked her body.

"T-tell me what happened," she asked in a shivering voice.

I stay silent. She takes this the wrong way.

Her voice is so small and petite it amazes even me. "Fang . . ."

I shake my head. "Go back to sleep, Max. We'll talk later." I help her lean back, adjusting her pillows for her and trying to reassure her everything was going to be okay. I stand next to her bedside of a second, assessing what I was going to do. I could easily see that she was taking in the full view of my burned face where the fire had gotten too. It wasn't really that bad of burn marks, but looks do deceive.

I pause before I leave, turn around and lean down to her leave. I cup her soft face in my hands and press my lips meaningfully against her forehead. Her sobs have stopped and were coming in small hick-ups now.

I knew it was time for me to leave, so she could rest.

With one last look, I left.

**Hmm so yeah, how did you like it? I feel like there's something missing . . . I guess I'll try and figure out what. My writing's been off. Sorry. Anyways, love ya guys. Please R&R for me. kbye**

**Laurel  
**


	15. Chapter 15

I'm sorry I haven't updated in such a long time, and I'm sorry that this still isn't an update. Recently, a friend of mine and so many others has just passed away today after a very traumatizing car-crash from a couple weeks ago. There were, I think, three passengers. Thank God, the other two didn't get hurt, but the other person did. Alex's brain was cut off from oxygen after going into a coma. Through out these past weeks, family, friends, and just ordinary people have prayed for him, sharing stories of how Alex's life couldn't be wasted. And now I know that it won't be, because I know he'll be with God. Alex lived by one motto – Never Back Down. This motto helped him succeed in his very short life; whether it be with grades, or helping his teammates win a crosscountry meet for our high school. At the age of 18, Alex passed away today at 4:03 pm, January 7th 2010, leaving his amazing and loving family behind. Matt, his younger brother in sixth grade, held his hand throughout the whole time. A picture of Matt holding his older brothers hand in the hospital was taken. As Alex left our world, he was surrounded by the people that loved him the most: his mom, dad, and little brother. Now, everyone that know him and some that haven't even seen him before, are living out to his motto. I plan to do so as well. A life like yours can't be wasted, Alex. I know God will take care of you, and I know you're looking down upon us. You will _never _be forgotten, and we know that during your fight for life, you weren't backing down. We love and miss you, Alex. You're in our hearts. Please, say a prayer for Alex and his family tonight. It will make all the difference. Thank you so much for reading.


	16. Chapter 16

**FINALLY! I FEEL GOOD ABOUT WRITING AGAIN! hahahah sorry, I've had writers block, and I've had a lot going on. Soccer try outs, cheerleading (hahahah don't judge lol), lacrosse . . . ima busy little beaver! But, alas, it's not an excuse. So, sorry. I really hope that you like this chapter anyways and please R&R!**

-Fang

She got out of the infirmary about a week after the fire.

The more that I spoke with her, the more I got hooked onto her. She was, in a weird way, a drug to me. She was like an addiction to me . . . God, I sounded like a stalker – and trust me, I'm not.

I still couldn't believe that Sergeant Charles was making her do laps around the track today. Harsh. But she did need to get back in condition.

We were going to be sent out to battle in a month.

1 month.

I still couldn't believe it.

Jamal and I were just walking back to our dorm, when this girl named Lissa with bright red hair pulls me aside. She gives me a false smile. "Hi! My friends and I are throwing a dorm party sometime soon and I was wondering if you'd like to come!"

Jamal coughs. "Uh, yes, I would love to come," he says as his eyes scan her up and down. I resist the urge to slap him.

Lissa's smile falters for a second but then she turns back to me and grabs my hand. "Listen, why don't you come back to my dorm. Some of my friends are already there. I think you might know some of them."

Why would I want to party? We were going to be fighting for our lives in a month and we'd just been under attack. What the hell was wrong with this girl?

I tried to slip my hand out from under her steel tight grasp. "I'm . . . not really the party type of guy. Especially now."

She gives me a some-what innocent look. "But this is the perfect time for a party. It'll cheer everyone up. Give them something to look forward."

I shrug. "Uh, no thank you. But my friend Jamal would love to come."

She shakes her head and grabs my arm again and pulls me along. I realize I'm heading over to Max's dorm. My guess she lived there too. "I've been watching you, ya know?"

"What?" I exclaim.

She gives a seductive smile. "Mhm. Actually, a lot of the girls have. Especially me, though." She turns around to me and rests her hand on my chest.

I give an awkward laugh. "Heh. Great. Thanks for the heads up." I start turning around but she yanks me back and pushes me with force against the wall of the dorm.

"Okay, when I see what I like I go after it. But I'm sure you'll like this," she says as she's about to lean forward into me.

Shit.

I rest my hands on her hips, about to shove her aside just as she slams her lips against mine. She wraps her arms around me and keeps kissing me.

I hear talking just around the corner; two girls talking. God dammit, why the hell is she kissing me?

"Max . . ." I hear someone say in a hushed voice . . . was that Sam?

A seriously bad feeling shifted inside of my stomach.

"_What?"_ I heard a seriously pissed off sounding girl screech.

Max.

Double shit.

I look over to see her and Sam standing a little ways away from me, but they'd most defiantly seen what had just happened with Lissa and I.

Max's face showed pain, hurt, betrayal . . . In a flash of blonde curls, she's turned around and is starting to walk away quickly. Sam is shaking her head, looking straight at me.

"Max?" I hear myself say as I step forward. Urgency is dripping into my voice; urgency to tell her what really happened.

Ripping myself from Lissa, I run towards Max. But she won't turn around.

"Max, _wait."_

I'm next to her and I'm touching her hand but she pulls herself from me, like I'm some sort of disease.

And then she's running away from me.


	17. Chapter 17

**It's ALMOST SUMMER BREAK! YEEEEEHAWWWWW! Teeheeh i wish i was a cowgirl... ANYWAYS please R&R and I hope that you like this chapter! My brother and I were watching The Hurt Locker over the weekend and that's what made me think of writing this chapter in both 6 minutes in heaven and 6 minutes in hell! I hope ya like! **

6 minutes in hell 17

It's like I don't even exist to her.

I've tried so many times to get her to talk to me, so that I could apologize and explain to her what happened between Lissa and I but she won't listen to me.

At this point, I think she hates me, and that kills me inside because Max means too much to me.

_Damn it. What the hell is wrong with me? _

I'm leaving my combat class with Jamal when I see the sign up sheet on the board. No one's signed up yet. The headline reads EOD – meaning Explosive Ordnance Disposal.

Jamal catches me eyeing it. "Man, what are you thinking? You better not sign up for that suicide mission."

But I was thinking about it. Maybe I needed a break from all this verbal teenage drama and I needed a real adrenaline rush. Someone has to do the job of disarming bombs in Iraq. Why not me? Someone has to risk there life to do it.

I turn to Jamal. "Got a pen?"

I was still in shock with myself that I'd signed up for disarming bombs. Tonight they were going to announce the list of people who'd signed up and were actually picked to go to Iraq to disarm bombs.

So, when they called Max's name over the speakers, my blood ran cold. What? There had to be some sort of mistake. Max would never do that. It was all too dangerous for her to be there.

But then it dawned on me that it did make sense. Max was all about danger, all about the rush of adrenaline. I sat there at my dinner table with my dorm room mates and Jamal as I pictured Max in one of those space suit-like contraptions that "protect" her from an exploding bomb if needed, but all I thought of was the pressure of the bomb and Max dying inside that suit, that suit that was supposed to protect her.

I shake my head and push myself away from the table, my chair making a scraping sound on the floor.

"Fang, what are you doing?" Jamal asks me as I start walking over to Max's table. Everyone in the dinning room is quiet, all looking intently at me. But I didn't care. All I cared about at that moment was the girl that I was staring at – Max.

I bite down on my tongue to keep from yelling and ball my fists up at my side so that I won't explode. I walk up to Max. "We need to talk," I tell her through a hard voice.

Without even looking back to see if she was following me, I walk out of the dinning room and stand there, staring into the pitch black night, breathing deeply. I wait for a minute and then I start to doubt, thinking maybe she won't come out. But just in that second, I hear the door to the dinning room open and slam shut and I can't hold it in any longer.

I turn around and stare Max down as I yell at her, "What the hell are you doing, Max?"

She looks confused, her mouth hanging open for a second, questioning my words, but then her eyes narrow and a fierce look crosses her face. "What are you talking about? You asked me to come out hear to talk to you and that's why I'm here!"

I shake my head. God, she doesn't get it! ""No, Max! I mean what the hell are you doing signing up to disarming bombs!"

She rolls her eyes and says something about me signing up first but I'm not listening. I'm walking up closer to her and I'm gripping her shoulders, staring down into her deep brown eyes and taking in her soft skin. How could a girl look this innocent, possess the need to be around bombs? To always risk her fragile life? It didn't make sense to me. "Do you have any idea how dangerous disarming a bomb is? You could get killed! What's wrong with you?"

Max is staring up at me through her eyelashes, giving me a look that said I was crazy. She tries moving away from me but I only move in closer to her, not wanted her to back away from my questions.

I breathe out. "You can't do this, Max," I tell her in broken voice. I'm much quieter now.

Max swallows and I can see the fear in her eyes right before she looks down at her shoes. "You're not in charge of me."

Something about her saying that makes me want to laugh. I know that this moment right now is anything but funny, but I already knew that I wasn't in charge of Max. No one is. I wish I could just get a glimpse of what she was thinking sometimes, just so that I could know what was going on. But she shuts herself off from the world.

Before I can stop myself, I'm smiling. "No, I know I'm not," I agree with her.

Silence consumes us and I'm afraid that I'm invading her personal space. I let go of her, much to my dismay and take a step back. She shuts her eyes tightly together like she might cry. She looks up at me again and looks away at my hard watch on her. "Just don't do this, Max. For me." I swallow. "_Please_, Max."

She won't say anything. So, I do what I wish I never have to do to her.

I walk away.

**SOooooooooooooo which chapter did ya like better? 6 minutes in Heaven or Hell? Please R&R and tell me what ya think! LOVE YA GUYS! I hope you all have an AMAZING SUMMER BREAK!**

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**LOVE LAUREL**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yeah yeah yeahhhh I know I'm a big fat liar but I'm sorry I didn't update on time . . . I thought cheer camp was over but no - it wasn't... and thennnn I got sick. Like, I couldn't get up to even get my cell phone off of the table in my room... At least I'm all better now so that I could write this chapter! I hope that ya'll enjoy and R&R at the end! PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE WITH A SUGAR ON TOP?**

6 minutes in hell 18

She was sitting in front of me a couple seats in this dreary bus. Her long almost bleached out hair from too much time in the sun hung in loose ringlets down the back of the seat. Her body tensed up, like she knew I was staring at her.

Before I could look away, her steady gaze surveyed the other soldiers around us, and then her deep brown eyes landed on mine. Too late, I looked down at my lap, trying to give off an aura that said _who, me? I wasn't doing anything. _But she'd already caught me. Slowly, my head lifts up without my command and I'm looking at her through the strands of my hair as I match her accusing stare.

Easily, I could detect the pause and hesitation in her eyes, the tense look that she exuded. Was that tension because of me? Because of what's happened between us? Or was it because of something else . . .

Like the fact that we were on a bus that was either taking us to our futures – or our deaths.

Involuntarily, I started shaking my head – not because of Max, well partly. But mainly because of the huge amount of confusion she gave me. I didn't know what the hell to do, or how the hell to act whenever she was around me. No girl had ever had me acting this way before. I'd always been able to control myself and how I portrayed myself to everyone around me – but not Max. She knew how to get under my skin, get me thinking. She had this control over me that I had no say in. I hated it . . .

And I loved it and her at the same time.

Wait, what? I never said that, er, I mean, thought that. Forget it,_ now._

My attention focused back on Max, as her lips moved into one simple word – _What? _

My eyes traced those lips for a second, and I thought about what it would feel like to have those soft lips on mine just for a second, without it being a dare like before or having to do with spin the bottle. I could just slide my hands around her waist, pressing my mouth to hers and–

Damn. God _Dammit. _This was all her fault. She's the one who'd brought my attention to her lips. She's the one that made me so crazy whenever I thought about her. Her, Max, is the one that had me gazing at her like a love-sick puppy dog. She's the one that's made me lose all my concentration.

She's the one.

I sat there for a second, not looking back at Max. I flick my eyes back up at her and my heart's like it's about to burst. I gulp, _hard_, and then lean back in my seat and close my eyes, well aware of the fact that Max was still staring at me.

But I couldn't respond to her right now. Those words were pounding in my head, repeating over and over again.

_She's the one._

Max was asleep, I was convinced.

She'd been asleep for almost an _hour _and I needed to talk to her _now. _I needed her to know the way that I felt about her, even if it meant she didn't want anything to do with me afterwards – even if she'd hate me.

I rubbed my somewhat sweaty palms on my camo khakis and stood up, bracing myself against the shaky bus ride and what I was about to be getting myself into.

I found myself standing next to Max's seat; she was sitting alone. The two guys in the seat behind her were eyeing me curiously as I watched Max for a second, taking notice in how young her face looked when she was asleep. I guess that I'd seen her asleep before, kinda, from the terrorist attack at base camp. Only that wasn't sleep. It was unconsciousness, the cousin to death, or something like that. But right now, she was peaceful. She looked like she was maybe seven years younger, her lips slightly parted and her skin smoothed out, eyes closed softly.

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing just staring at her?" A guy that I remember having a very common name . . . John, with the last name of either Williams or Smith I think? He had a very ordinary look to himself, with light brown hair cut down to the regulation buzz cut (I'd skipped out on that hair cut day and no one had bothered to get my hair fixed since then) and hazel eyes. His angular jaw was clenched. The guy next to him was named Michael Heon, I recalled. He was the complete opposite of John with pale blonde hair, also cut short, with also pale blue eyes. His skin was washed out, almost white, and he was peering out at me though thick framed glasses. His scrawny hands were in his lap, thin body perched up high.

_How the hell did he make it though the regulation standards to be here? _I thought to myself. I made a mental note in the back of my head to watch out for this kid. I doubted he could handle himself with a pea gun, so the odds of him dealing with actual bombs in Afghanistan were slim.

Michael elbowed John slightly, making John glower.

I decided to ignore them and sat down next to Max, whispering her name so that she would wake up. "Max . . . Max, wake up."

She stirred and groaned next to me, her eyebrows scrunching together. Max brought her hands up to her eyes and started rubbing viciously. "_What?" _She hissed out, like she was pissed off at me.

My eyes slightly widening a fraction, I said, "Uhm . . . I need to talk to you . . ." I told her, kind of taken aback.

She roll my eyes angrily, seemingly mad "Didn't we talk last night? When they announced who was going to the bomb camp? Remember that?" Max told me with an irritation in her voice.

I took a deep breath, my eyes narrowing in on her. "What I need to talk to you about is important." I told her and then added by mistake, "Don't be rude."

Oops. Max's face flushes bright red (which actually made her look really cute) and I knew she was gonna kill me for it. She stabs me in the chest with her index finger and it takes all my will power not to poke her back. "_I'm _not the one being rude. _You're _the one that keeps playing all these games. You're the one who keeps telling me that you care when obviously you don't."

This time, it's not Max blushing.

My jaw clenches as I try to calm myself. I _do _care about you, Max. I don't know why, since you're acting like an idiot," I said, but the words seemed all wrong; too harsh and unlike me.

Max looks like she's about to punch a hole through the bus window. She seemed to be having one of those moments where she was picking her battles . . . "_You're _the idiot, Fang. You're the one who can't make up your mind. How do you think I felt when I saw you kissing that . . . that slut?"

What? Why did she even care anyways? It's not like she liked me back or anything . . . wait, did she? This time when I look at her I don't try and block the pain behind my eyes. "You don't even know what happened." My voice was stiff.

Max shakes her head doubtfully. "From what I saw, that was all I needed to know." Her voice was defeated, broken. She wouldn't meet my gaze for a second. Once again, I'm looking up at her through my hair, just in case if I need to hide my face if she explodes on me.

But just in that second, a look came across Max's face as she stared at me. A look of . . . lust? Desire? I don't know, but guess what happened next?

She reached out to me and started running her fingers through my hair.

So we sit there like that for a minute, her hands in my hair as we just gazed at each other. Really corny, I know, but . . . I loved every second of it.

Max yanks her hands back. "I . . . I'm sorry. I don't – I mean, I just – I, uhm . . I didn't mean to do that . . ." She seemed lost at words as she stuttered.

Before I can help it, I'm smirking and she's giving me a look that says she just wants to slap that smirk right off my lips – ha, too bad.

"She kissed me," I say suddenly, breathless and very quickly. I wasn't sure if she'd heard me for a second until she responded.

The perplexed look on her face makes me realize how much this had been bothering Max and I can't help but feel so guilty. "What?"

"Lissa. The girl you saw kissing me? She just came up to me, asked me to go to a dorm party and then she just started kissing me. Seriously, I didn't even know her. I don't know why that happened. Or why she did that."

A wave of relief seems to be washing over her as she leans back in her seat, letting out a long breath of air. She stairs at the seat in front of her, not saying anything for a little while. She's still not looking at me when she asks, "Why didn't you try stopping her?"

"I was. I was gonna push her off of me and then you and Sam walked up and saw her kissing me before I could do anything about it." I needed her to believe me or else I don't know what I'd do. If it meant this much to her then I had to prove it to her that Lissa meant nothing to me . . .

"You swear you didn't kiss her?" She whispers.

"I promise," I tell her as my hand slides underneath her small warm hands. I give them a small squeeze and rub her palms.

But when Max starts smiling, I can't help myself but lean in to kiss her.

Maybe that will prove my point.

**So I was thinking that i didn't make the ending very clear... if you don't get it, inbox me or write a review so that I can explain! Otherwise I really hoped that you enjoyed it anddddd uhmmm I MIGHT be update some of my other stories later . . . but not now since its like 4 am and i am sooo tired.. lol once again.. R&R!  
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~LOVE LAUREL~  
**


	19. Chapter 19

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6 minutes in hell 19

I was kissing her. She was kissing me back . . . I couldn't belive it. And this wasn't just kissing. Somehow everything felt so sexual. I was taking control of the moment for once and Max was letting me. I guided her through the kissing as my hands loomed over her incredible body.

Every now and then when I would kiss her neck, Max would make this tiny gasps that just made me smile against her warm skin. Every touch she made lingered on me, keeping me wanting more of her.

"Max, you need to know how I feel about you," I tell her seriously as I stare into her beautiful eyes.

She nods in agreement as we start kissing again. She's up against me and I can barely breathe. She's distacting me so much from what I need to tell her. I'm desperate.

"Max. Max, there's something very important that I need you to know," I say, trying to stay focused myself.

I knew that a love-life in the military would never work out. Jamal had made sure I knew that . . . but all I was looking for right now with Max was just for her to understand what she means to me. I wasn't looking into the future where I knew we could never be together, but I was living in the moment. This moment with Max was a moment that I will never forget.

"Tell me," she urges me, interuppting my train of thoughts. "You can tell me anything," she insists as she starts kissing my jaw. My heart starts aching at how amazing it feels and she has the pleasure of knowing what she's doing to me.

A military relationship can only end in a heartbreak. If we got too attatched to each other, we would put each others lives in danger when the time came. We would be constantly looking out for each other, not at all concerned about our very own well-beings.

I held onto Max's attention for a fleeting moment, gazing into that perfect face that I'd instantly fallen in love with. "I love you, Max," I tell her with as much desperation in my voice as I'd ever heard.

What I was about to do next was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life: I got up and walked away from her.

Sitting down on a bus seat far away from her, I refused to make eye contact. I didn't even sit there and wonder if she loved me back. I didn't wonder because I already knew by the look over her face.

She was in love with me, too.

R&R!


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